London

There's so much on this trip that I haven't written about. I don't know where to start. London was a whirlwind. We toured the BBC, went to the taping of TV show there called "Pointless," toured Westminster Abbey, took a tour of several historic pubs, and stayed at a crummy hostel called The Generator. On our free time, Eric and I visited the fabulous store, Herrod's, where I bought a vegetable samosa in the extraordinary prepared food section. They have a caviar bar there, where people wash down their fish eggs with flutes of champagne. We walked through Hyde Park and visited Greenwich. I went shopping in Camden Market, where I bought two pairs of earrings from a woman who grew up in Cleveland, Ohio.

Here I am at the BBC with Dr. Who:





The Cutty Sark at Greenwich:





Relaxing next to a fat-trunked tree in Greenwich:





A Camden Market area street scene:





We picnicked in Russell Square and then hunted down the spot where our writer, T.S. Eliot worked:





We visited the gorgeous Westminster Abbey, where I had an unfortunate meltdown when I discovered that the tickets we were given did not include audio guides.







And I photographed my group a zillion times over.





London is a fabulous city, made easy to navigate by the fabulous Tube. Many of our students developed a little culture shock here, though. The hostel was loud and the rooms were cramped, but this got them out and exploring. I was really proud of the way so many of them traversed the city, seeing as much as they possibly could. I was hacked off that a vocal few thought our planned activities cut into their plans. That's the nature of study abroad, though. You try to get them to be independent and curious, but you get hacked off when all they want to do is their own thing. It's a delicate balance.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad